Digital currency sales jumped to US$13.7 billion in the first five months of the year, nearly double the amount raised for the whole of 2017, Reuters says, citing a report released by PwC’s strategy and consulting division Strategy& and Switzerland-based Crypto Valley Association.
This year’s virtual currency sales from 537 coin offerings topped last year’s total of US$7.0 billion, and included mammoth offerings from Telegram, a messaging service founded by Russia-born entrepreneurs Pavel and Nikolai Durov in 2013, and Block.one’s EOS currency, the report said.
Telegram raised US$1.7 billion without its tokens sold to the public. EOS, an infrastructure project for decentralized applications, raised more than US$4 billion in a year-long token offering that started in the middle of last year.
Of the 3,470 ICOs announced since the first token offering in 2013, only 30 percent have closed successfully, while many have been delayed or lost momentum during the ICO process, the report said.
The United States remains a leading destination to host ICOs, with 56 token sales registered raising US$1.1 billion in the first five months of 2018, reinforced by “clear and firm regulatory requirements”.
Within Europe, Switzerland is the ICO capital, but in 2018, the UK has gained ground in terms of volume and numbers. The 48 ICOs registered in the UK so far this year raised US$507 million.
Source: ejinsight.com
